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Priv.-Doz. Dr. Margit Peterfy
Contact
Anglistisches Seminar/Department of English
Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg
Kettengasse 12, Room 318
69117 Heidelberg
Germany
+49 (6221) 542851
margit.peterfy@as.uni-heidelberg.de
Sprechstunde: Office hours outside the teaching period by individual appointment (online and in person) .
Current Position
- Senior Research Lecturer (American Literature and Culture) in the Department of English at the University of Heidelberg
- Academic mentor in the Heidelberg Graduate School "Authority and Trust"
- Academic Advisor and co-ordinator of the MA English Studies at Heidelberg University
Research Interests
- American Poetry (18th century - present) Early American Drama (18th-19th century)
- Urban Cultural History
- Intermediality and adaptation
- Literature and reform (abolition, feminism, American socialism, climate change literature, etc.)
- Pragmatism
- Irish-American literature and culture
- Literary translation and comparative approaches
Teaching
- American Literature and Culture of the Documentary Thirties
Proseminar III Literaturwissenschaft
The years between 1920 and 1940 represented an economic, cultural, and political roller-coaster ride for Americans. The optimism of the 'Roaring Twenties' was followed by the devastating economic depression of the 1930s, with wide ranging repercussions in the field of the literature and the arts. Thousands of journalists, playwrights, musicians, artists had lost their livelihoods because their impoverished audiences had no money for the necessities of life, let alone for alleged 'luxuries,' such as art and literature. In this situation, several US-government projects were founded in support of intellectuals and artists: the Federal Theatre Project, Federal Writers' Project, etc. Authors and artists were able to continue to work and to produce remarkable works of art. Literature was influenced by modernist styles, but also by new approaches to art and life. One of the most important new directions were documentary styles, relying on experimental techniques, including the development of new genres of literary expression, for example the so-called 'Living Newspaper', or the interest in the rich historical tradition of slave-narratives, or the documentation of food-cultures. Photographers and writers traveled across the land and took now famous pictures, such as the 'Migrant Mother' (Dorothea Lange), or were struck and inspired by the lives of workers (John Steinbeck). We will look at the documentary style of these works both from a formal-aesthetic perspective, as well as the political, historical, and ethical contexts they appeared in.
There will be a Reader on sale in the Copy Corner (Merianstr.) as of the beginning of April. Additional material will be made available on moodle.
Requirements:
HS: Regular attendance, oral participation and short presentation (20%), research paper (80%)
PS III: Regular attendance, oral participation and short presentation (50%), oral exam (50%)
Please register for this class directly by writing tomargit.peterfy@as.uni-heidelberg.de
- Colloquium for Exam Candidates
Kolloquien
The colloquium is intended for exam candidates in the MEd program (oral exam). There will be also a few sessions set aside for the discussion of graduation theses.
Please register with me directly (margit.peterfy@as.uni-heidelberg.de
) and let me know why you would like to attend my colloquium.
- Harlem Renaissance
Proseminar I Literaturwissenschaft
In the 1920s, Harlem, a former suburb, and now neighborhood, of New York City, became a vibrant center of black cultural activity. Music, theater, painting, and above all literature contributed to a rich cultural environment, in which African Americans created new forms of expression. In this seminar, we will look at a number of texts dealing with the phenomenon. Central themes and topics of the Harlem Renaissance will be examined beside critical re-evaluations of the movement from intersectional perspectives.
Requirements for Cultural Studies credits: regular attendance and participation, a short presentation, final written in-class exam.
Requirements for Literary Studies: regular attendance and participation, a short presentation, research paper
Please buy the following edited collection: David Levering Lewis, ed. The Portable Harlem Renaissance Reader. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1995.
- Key Concepts for the Study of Culture
Vorlesung Kulturwissenschaft
This course is designed as an introduction to central themes and methods of cultural analysis on the basis of current and historical theories of culture. We will introduce several key terms which you can use in order to understand, analyse and interpret different cultures, such as the relation between culture and identity, values, performance, visual culture, material culture, and others. We will also provide examples taken from British or American culture in order to illustrate how one can use these key concepts. Thus, you will also learn something about key periods of British and American cultural history.
Course requirements:
The lecture will comprise a mix of lectures (in praesentia), self-study (reading chapters of a book) and watching videos.
Texts:
The basic text for this course is Vera Nünning, Margit Peterfy, and Philipp Löffler, <em>Key Concepts for the Study of Culture: An Introduction</em>. Trier: WVT 2020.
It is recommended that you buy the book; there are also copies available in the university library and the library of the English seminar.
- Liberty Deferred and other plays of the Federal Theatre Project
Proseminar I Literaturwissenschaft
The years between 1930 and 1940, the so-called Great Depression, represented an economic, cultural, and political crisis for the US. In this situation, several US-government projects were founded in support of intellectuals and artists: the Federal Theatre Project, Federal Writers' Project, etc. Authors and artists were able to continue to work and to produce remarkable works of art. Literature was influenced by modernist styles, but also by new approaches to art and life. One of the most important new directions were documentary styles, relying on experimental techniques, including the development of new genres of dramatic expression, for example the so-called 'Living Newspaper', and other dramatic forms. In this seminar we will read and (partially) re-stage some of these new forms of theatricals. The historical and political contexts will be part of our discussions, as well.
All texts will be made available on moodle.
Requirements:Regular and active participation in our class discussions, a dramatic presentation of selected scenes.
For cultural studies credits: final written exam.
For literature credits: term paper
- Politics and North American Poetry from the Puritans to the Present
Vorlesung Kulturwissenschaft
This lecture series will introduce you to a number of North American poems (including the Colonial period, and Canada), and to the political circumstances of their creation and reception. For about a century, our perception of American poetry has been dominated by the achievements of excellent, but at the time of their first publication, often not widely read poets. Given the popularity of the genre throughout the 18th and 19th century however, literary critics and historians have been re-examining the place and value of American poetry in literary history and in public life. In the lecture series we will thus examine not just poems, but also the changing political, conceptual and ideological contexts associated with them. We will start with the Puritans, who have the reputation for opposing anything that might be suspected of being "fun". But as we will see, even Puritans enjoyed poetry -- it just had to be the right kind. Michael Wigglesworth's "The Day of Doom", for example, excited its readers with its sensational evocation of Judgment Day in ways that go beyond religious contemplation. Moving through the centuries, we will encounter poems and poets who connected with the political scene and their large audiences in various ways. We will find that these poems can be seen as celebratory texts, but also as a critical commentary on the historical changes occurring in the country, and that they provided words and metaphors for the processes of cultural and political emancipation, functioning as tools of national self-invention. (This latter point is especially relevant in 2026, when the US looks back on 250 years of political sovereignty.) We will further explore the dynamic and evolving contemporary relationship of Americans to these poems (and their authors), as well as intermedial adaptations, parodies, and other creative transformations. We will end with the question which political role poetry (and related verbal forms, such as song lyrics) have played in the 20th and 21st centuries.
Requirement: Beside regular attendance, you will have to pass a final exam (in -class, multiple choice).
All reading materials (which are predominantly out of copyright) will be made available on moodle.
- Representations of "the" American Indian
Proseminar I Kulturwissenschaft
Almost all early visual and textual sources about North America's indigenous population were created by the European invaders. These representations were in general heavily biased by the Europeans' existing preconceptions, and their belief in their own superiority.Thus, early images of American Indians tell us at least as much about the creators of these images as about their intended object of study. In this class, we will first discuss how classical antiquity, Christian iconography, but also hidden motives such as political considerations or the greed for land influenced the representation of "the Indian" up to the Early Republic, i.e. around the 1830s. In the last sessions of the seminar, we will move to self-representations of Native American writers and intellectuals.
There will be a Reader on sale in the Copy Corner (Merianstr.) as of April 2026.
Requirements: regular attendance and participation, a short presentation, final written in-class exam.
- The Progressive Element in US-American Prose: Realists, Rebels, Innovators
Proseminar III Literaturwissenschaft
In this course we will look at a number of prose texts written around 1900. The notion of 'progress' in this influential period refers to changes in the conception of the idea of 'America' on the one hand, and on aesthetic innovation on the other. The generation of writers after the Civil War started to develop an empirical approach to literature as opposed to an ideal and/or romantic one. Social, political, and technological developments challenged traditional expectations of what literature should express in order to be relevant to people's lives. In this course we will discuss shorter prose fiction and novels that were written in the new, 'realistic' style, including literary experiments that ultimately lead to the modernist revolution in literature. We will read texts by, among others, Rebecca Harding Davis, Mark Twain, William Dean Howells, Jack London, Sherwood Anderson, and Ernest Hemingway. Please read The Iron Heel by Jack London during the break. Other texts will be provided on moodle.
- "Young, Gifted, and Black": African American Female Dramatists
Proseminar III Literaturwissenschaft
In this seminar, we will study the development of African American drama written by Women throughout the 20th century, and also glance back to the 19th, when African American theatre started to liberate itself from the traditions and stereotypes of the ubiquitous minstrel productions. Thus, we will begin by discussing Pauline E. Hopkins's Peculiar Sam, or, The Underground Railroad (1879), which was written for Hopkins's own family's troupe, "Hopkins' Colored Troubadours". Then we will move on to a number of plays that can be read as milestones in the development of African American theatrical traditions, from plays performed during the Harlem Renaissance. The post- WW II period introduces new artistic developments catalyzed by the political and cultural struggles of the Civil Rights Era, starting with, among others, Alice Childress's 'Trouble in Paradise', and then moving on to Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun (1959). More experimental productions, will also be part of our curriculum, as will be Ntozake Shange's 'choreopoem' For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow is Enuf (1975). We will close with a contemporary play by Dominique Morisseau.
A Reader will be on sale in the Copy Corner (Merianstr.)
Downloads
Publications
- Deutsche Gesellschaft für Amerikastudien (67., 2021, Heidelberg): Participation in American culture and society / Philipp Löffler, Margit Peterfy, Natalie Rauscher, Welf Werner. -
Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, [2024]. - 346 Seiten : Illustrationen, Diagramme, ISBN 9783825395841
(American studies ; volume 322) - Deutsche Gesellschaft für Amerikastudien (67., 2021, Heidelberg): Participation in American culture and society / Philipp Löffler, Margit Peterfy, Natalie Rauscher, Welf Werner. -
Heidelberg: Universitätsverlag Winter, [2024]. - 1 Online-Ressource (346 Seiten) : Illustrationen, Diagramme, ISBN 9783825386665
(American studies ; Volume 322)
Online-Ressource - Löffler, Philipp; Peterfy, Margit; Rauscher, Natalie; Werner, Welf: Introduction: Participation in crisis? / Philipp Löffler, Margit Peterfy, Natalie Rauscher, Welf Werner, [2024]. - 25 S.
In: Löffler, Philipp; Peterfy, Margit; Rauscher, Natalie; Werner, Welf (Hrsg.): Participation in American culture and society.
(American studies ; volume 322) (2024), Seite 11-35 - Löffler, Philipp; Peterfy, Margit; Rauscher, Natalie; Werner, Welf: Preface / Philipp Löffler, Margit Peterfy, Natalie Rauscher and Welf Werner, [2024]. - 2 S.
In: Löffler, Philipp; Peterfy, Margit; Rauscher, Natalie; Werner, Welf (Hrsg.): Participation in American culture and society.
(American studies ; volume 322) (2024), Seite 9-10 - Nünning, Vera; Löffler, Philipp; Peterfy, Margit: Key concepts for the study of culture : an introduction / Vera Nünning, Philipp Löffler, Margit Peterfy. -
Trier: Wissenschaftlicher Verlag Trier, [2020]. - 363 Seiten : Illustrationen, Diagramme, ISBN 9783868218770
(WVT-Handbücher zum literaturwissenschaftlichen Studium ; Band 22) - Peterfy, Margit: Material culture and intermediality / Margit Peterfy, 2020. - 20 S.
In: Key concepts for the study of culture.
(WVT-Handbücher zum literaturwissenschaftlichen Studium ; Band 22) (2020), Seite 275-294 - Peterfy, Margit: Performance (studies) and performativity / Margit Peterfy, 2020. - 22 S.
In: Key concepts for the study of culture.
(WVT-Handbücher zum literaturwissenschaftlichen Studium ; Band 22) (2020), Seite 147-168 - Peterfy, Margit: Visual studies and culture / Margit Peterfy, 2020. - 28 S.
In: Key concepts for the study of culture.
(WVT-Handbücher zum literaturwissenschaftlichen Studium ; Band 22) (2020), Seite 231-258 - Peterfy, Margit: “We must trust that look of hers” : William Dean Howells’s urban theory of trust and trustworthiness in A hazard of new fortunes (1890) / Margit Peterfy, 2020. - 32 S.
In: Leypoldt, Günter; Berg, Manfred (Hrsg.): Authority and trust in US culture and society.
(American culture studies ; volume 30) (2020), Seite 135-166 - Peterfy, Margit: The fireside poets : Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and John Greenleaf Whittier / Margit Peterfy, 2015. - 16 S.
In: Scheiding, Oliver; Dietrich, René; Spahr, Clemens (Hrsg.): A history of American poetry.
(WVT-Handbücher zum literaturwissenschaftlichen Studium ; Band 19) (2015), Seite 95-110 - Peterfy, Margit: Transkulturelle Dynamiken im US-amerikanischen Showbusiness des Gilded Age 1870-1900 / Margit Peterfy, 2015. - 28 S.
In: Ernst, Jutta (Hrsg.): Transkulturelle Dynamiken.
(Mainzer historische Kulturwissenschaften ; 19) (2015), Seite 63-90 - Peterfy, Margit: Bild, Text, kulturelle Praxis : zur ikonografischen Konstellation in der Kulturwissenschaft, 2011. - 10 S.
In: Scheiding, Oliver (Hrsg.): Kulturtheorien im Dialog. (2011), Seite 257-276 - Peterfy, Margit: Images of native Americans / Margit Peterfy, 2009. - 27 S.
In: Engler, Bernd (Hrsg.): A companion to American cultural history. (2009), Seite 27-53 - Die Liebesbriefe / Dylan Thomas. Aus dem Engl. von Margit Peterfy. Mit einem Nachw. von Elke Heidenreich. -
Frankfurt am Main: Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verl., 2008. - 116 S., ISBN 9783596175130 - Peterfy, Margit: "These things astonish me beyond words” : wordplay in William Carlos Williams’s poetry / Margit Peterfy, 2005. - 21 S.
In: Connotations, ISSN 2626-8183. 14(2005,1/3), Seite [87]-107
Online-Ressource - Thomas, Dylan: Die Liebesbriefe / Dylan Thomas. Übers. von Margit Peterfy. -
München ; Wien: Hanser, 2004. - 108 S. - Peterfy, Margit; Schneider, Ulrike: Simultaneität und Polyphonie : Der französische Kubismus und William Carlos Williams / Margit Peterfy, Ulrike Schneider, 2002. - 42 S.
In: Johnston, Andrew James; Schneider, Ulrike (Hrsg.): Anglo-romanische Kulturkontakte von Humanismus bis Postkolonialismus. (2002), Seite 150-191 - Peterfy, Margit: William Carlos Williams in deutscher Sprache : Aspekte der übersetzerischen Vermittlung 1951 - 1970 / Margit Peterfy. -
Würzburg: Königshausen und Neumann, 1999. - 309 S.
(Saarbrücker Beiträge zur vergleichenden Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaft ; 6) - Peterfy, Margit: Arbeit am Weltbürger : zur Werkausgabe des Saar-"Weltbürgers" Gustav Regler / Margit Peterfy, 1998. - 1 S. : Ill.
In: Saarbrücker Zeitung. 118(1998) vom: 23../24. Mai, Seite 11 - Peterfy, Margit: Von William Carlos Williams zu Annette von Droste-Hülshoff : die weibl. Stimme des Dichters in e. Fall von "gendered translation" / Margit Peterfy, 1997. - 15 S.
In: Carleton Germanic papers, ISSN 0317-7254. 25(1997), Seite 23-37 - Peterfy, Margit: Different Americas : William Carlos Williams vs. the Cultural Establishment / Margit Peterfy, 1996. - 16 S.
In: Fender, Stephen (Hrsg.): American and European national identities.
(European papers in American history ; 4) (1996), Seite 21-36